490 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. ; 
It is more complicated and less efficient in the rough 
jerking work of dibbling than that of the slide move- 
ment we have been describing. 
A simple Hand Seed Depositor, for use by one hand 
only, somewhat on the principle of the powder-flask, 
was exhibited by Mr. Grant, of Stamford. While on 
seed machines we must not omit to mention that Mr. 
Newberry has sueceeded in much lightening his ad- 
mirable Dibbling Machine. Each wheel is one ewt. 
lighter. A Hand Dibble on the same principle was also 
exhibited. It consists of 22-inch dibbling wheel, with 
12 dibbles ; receives the feed similar to the other 
machines ; is in a wooden frame with two handles, like 
around barrow. - The workman has merely to fill his 
hopper, and urge the machine forward, as a barrow, 
the implement making the holes and planting at the 
same time. In turning, the machine is lifted up on the 
small wheel in front, which stops the dibble-wheel from 
working. Two rings are attached, whereby a lad may 
help by pulling, if necessary,—Price 6/. 
The prizes for the best Turnip Drill were awarded to 
Mr. Hunter, of Uleeby, near Barrow-on-Humber, and 
Mr. Teasdale, of Barneston, near Bedale, Yorkshire. 
But if we may be allowed the expression of a sentiment 
which people say farmers are generally too apt to hold, 
neither of them equals the one we use ourselves, and 
which we were surprised not to see exhibited, for the 
maker is a Scotchman ; we will give his address next 
week. But, indeed, the way in which the Scotch imple- 
ment makers have almost wholly declined competition 
with their English brethren at this the only possible 
scene of such a contest for many years to come has been 
noticed by every one. We must say that we had hoped 
to have witnessed here a contest equal in spirit to any 
of the many in olden time on neighbouring ground. A 
friend writing some weeks ago, ventured to prophesy 
success to the southerns,” but no one anticipated “no 
competition.’ All this, however, is written onWednes- 
day, before the cattle yards are open. 
he prize for the best Scarifier has again been carried 
off by Lord Ducie’s “ Cultivator,” exhibited by Mr. Cross- 
kill ; and the prize for the Chaff-eutter has been again 
awarded to the (at all events) simple, and doubtless effi- 
cient machine of Mr. Cornes, of Barbridge, near Nantwich, 
Mr. Seragg, of Calvely, near Tarporley, Chester, has 
again carried off the first prize for a Tile-making Ma- 
chine. It consists of two parts, one for preparing the 
clay by forcing it through an iron grating, which retains 
stones, &c. ; and the other for forming the tiles. In 
both cases the material is emitted at the end of the box 
containing the clay, and in which the piston moves—not 
at the side towards the end—the plan, unwisely, as we 
think, adopted by some makers. There was not much 
competition under this head. Ainslie’s Machine was 
exhibited—in which the clay is forced out by means of 
rollers in a continuous stream, and eut across by a wire 
revolving in a path, inclined so ‘as that while by its 
vertical motion it cuts the tube, it may have a forward 
motion equal to that of the tube—the eut being thus 
made square. It would be well in some cases if the 
public could witness a competition between rival ma- 
chines, and not altogether depend upon the award of the 
Society's judges. This opportunity was given in the case 
of many of the implements; but'not/in the case of the tile- 
machines. Whatever be their relative merits in prac- 
tice we cannot help thinking the principle on which 
Ainslie’s tile-machine acts to be superior to that of the 
others we have seen. 
A prize of 5/. was awarded to Mr. Coleman, of Col- 
chester, for his excellent Harrows. They have not 
before been exhibited in England—though at the Dum- 
fries Meeting of the Highland Society they were re- 
warded by a premium. They are jointed so that any 
fineness of comb (so to speak) may be obtained, and 
this is retained in a very simple manner by attaching 
the draught chains to different points on the draught 
bar ; but they possess another merit, that of being easily 
T»gulated in depth, and even in weight. This is effected 
by means of supporting wheels, which may be placed at 
any height, or even lifted off the land and above the 
frame when their weight adds to the efficiency of the in- 
strument. The followingis the printed description of it:— 
“The tires are so arranged, that they must all cut the 
land in different lines ; and no matter in what position 
or form the harrow is placed, the bars are always pre- 
served parallel with each other, in the several altera- 
tions of the cut, and all the tines preserve their rela- 
tive distances and positions. The bars, which stretch 
across to the beams, move on joints: this enables the 
tines to be altered, for cutting at wide or narrow dis- 
tances, according to the state of the land, and the nature 
of the work; consequently, if the harrow be stretched 
out to its greatest width, there is ample space between 
the tines to prevent the possibility of its being clogged 
up. As the land becomes finer, the harrow is gradually 
compressed in width, until it can be made to finish off 
the finest work, after sowing corn or small seeds. "The 
coarseness or fineness of the cut is regulated by simply 
making the chains, which connect the harrow with the 
wood-horse pole, longer or shorter ; that is, by taking 
up, or letting ont, a few links of the chain, which can 
most readily be done by any boy: And it will be seen 
that when once the chains are fixed, the pole always 
keeps the harrow in the right position ; although, at the 
same time, ordinary care should be observed that the 
horses, in drawing, are kept abreast of each other. 
When the lands in a farm are laid out in different 
Widths, this contrivance for altering the width of the 
‘ow will be found very convenient, when the 
horses are required to walk in the furrow. This 
principle of construction enabling the implement 
to be used either as a coarse or a fine harrow, 
the next point to be accomplished, to make it 
perfect, is, to render it either a heavy or a light harrow; 
and this object is attained, in a very simple manner, by 
the levers and wheels. When the harrow is wanted to 
be light, if the lever be pulled down, and secured to the 
bow by the pin, the weight is taken off the tines, and 
hrown on the wheels revolving on the land ; a tine 
following to obliterate the mark of the wheels. When 
weight is required, if the lever be raised to its highest 
place, in order to bring the wheel above the beam, the 
whole weight of the harrow is thrown on the land; and 
the wheels then act as an additional weight, to press tho 
tines to their work. If the harrow, when compressed 
into a narrow space, requires cleaning, the man driving, 
by shaking the lever (which is closely within his reach, 
when driving), may easily liberate it from any rubbish 
which may have accumulated. When the implement 
has to be removed, by pulling down the levers, which 
raise the tines 4 or 5 inches above the ground, it is very 
readily shifted on its own wheels, and compressed suffi- 
ciently narrow to go through a gateway. There is 
sufficient pliability in the joints, which connect the bars 
with the beams; so that, on uneven or high-ridged 
land, the harrow will fall into, and adapt itself to, the 
form'of the surface. The tines are all screwed thréugh 
the bar of the harrow, as well as the nut, to do away 
with the inconvenience of their coming loose.— Price, 
with horse pole, 77. 12s.” 
mong other points which we may at present name 
as worthy of notice (and being hurried for time we shall 
be excused for delaying mention of some till next week), 
were implements exhibited by Mr. Stratton, of Bristol. 
The Norwegian Harrow, a drawing and deseription of 
which we hope soon to present to our readers, appears 
to be an efficient elod-crusher, as well as stirrer of the 
land. It consists of a heavy frame-work on wheels, 
which enable it to be lifted from the land. And across 
this frame-work are spiked axles, so to speak, the teeth 
of each of which, while they sink into and work up the 
land, clean those of its neighbour ; and thus the instru- 
ment is always kept in a state of efficiency. Mr. 
Stratton also exhibited a pair of wrought-iron wheels, 
which deservedly attracted considerable notice. 
We may also mention the exhibition of an instru- 
ment—a Seed-sowing Machine, sent all the way from 
Finland by Count Gripenberg. It was. simply a large 
barrel with holes pierced in it, through which the seed 
dropped upon an inclined surface, down which it slid, 
guided by raised edges, into funnels which led it to the 
ground in rows, at any intervals that might be selected. 
The principle of the barrel delivery is obviously im- 
perfect in any case excepting that of small and spherical 
seeds, like those of the Turnip. 
A machine for twisting straw ropes, exhibited by Mr, 
Pierce, a working man of Llanasa, near Holywell, Flint- 
shire, and put out of hand in a very rough way, ex- 
hibited as much mechanical ingennity as anything that 
was shown in the yard. It was worked by the foot, 
and was used to wind up the manufactured rope as it 
was made. One side of the machine was for platting 
and the other for twisting. One man does the whole of 
it. It is a most ingenious and efficient instrument, 
We shall have a few words to say on other points next 
week, At present we would make only one remark, It is 
a very serious thing that in this—so favourable a station 
for drawing together and exhibiting the mechanical 
ability both of England and _ Scotland—agricultural 
machine makers should have failed to respond with any 
spirit to the call of the Society. This is decidedly the 
most important portion of the Society’s Exhibition—so 
muchso that should it drop off, and ultimately fail, we 
hesitate not to say that we should not consider it worth 
find, among other places, in simpler, more efficient, 
and cheaper machnery. This is the field which the 
Society has hitherto been distinguished for patronising 
—and this it must @ntinue to patronise if its usefulness 
is to grow and increase. Looking over the prize-list, 
we find that of the sum (small, considering the income 
of the Society) offered as rewards for imple- 
ments, nearly 30 per cent, has been withheld “ for want 
of sufficient merit." The 300/ given by the Society as 
rewards for implements out of the 7000/. or 8000/. 
which it annually »»eeives from its members has this 
year been reduced :o little more than 200/., for want of 
sufficient merit in the articles exhibited. We do not 
wish that to be rewarded which does not deserve it, 
but, atall events, the sum given should not be lessened; 
the 80/. withheld shold have gone to increase the value 
of the prizes whick were awarded ; and there are 
articles now in the jard at Newcastle, as we certainly 
think, deserving notie, which have been passed over 
without being distinguished in any way by the Society. 
Vingoe’s Seed Planter, for instance, Newberry’s Dibble 
e ought to have stated before this that the award 
of the judges was made after a private trial of the 
implements on the Friday'and Saturday of last week— 
the former day being devoted to the trial of the 
thrashing machines and winnowers—the latter to the 
trial of implements of cultivation. On the Friday a 
fatal occurrence took place when trying a peg drum 
thrashing machine—a part of the instrument breaking 
was thrown off with great violence, and stviking the 
The publie exhibition of the working of the machines 
and implements took place to-day, and as usual was 
productive of but little instruction to those who wit- 
nessed it. The crowd looking on, trod, down the 
surface of the furrow-slices as they were successively 
turned over, so that the ploughing could hardly be 
judged of, and the action of harrows, rollers, drills, &e., 
was rendered incapable of being ascertained in an 
almost equal degree. The land on whieh the trials 
took place was in capital order for all implements 
excepting clod-crushers ; there was not sufficient differ 
ence between the light and the heavy land to test the 
implements suitable for use on the different kinds of soil 
Discussion on Manurzs, AND tux Best METHOD oF 
APPLYING THEM.— We now 
pleasant part of our task, that of reporting the pro- 
ceedings in the lect at Nel treet, when, 
Eae a full meeting of farmers, Lord Porrman in the 
chair, 
Professor Jounston delivered an introductory address 
on the principles of manuring, which was followed by a 
most interesting discussion on various practical points 
connected with the subject. The lecturer stated that 
the great problem for.solution by farmers now-a-days 
was how to grow more food and cheaper food for the 
people; the one that they might keep pace with the 
growing demands of an increasing population, and the 
other that they might be enabled to meet foreign com- 
petition, to which they are now exposed. The one was 
to be done by bringing more land into cultivation, and 
by inereasing the fertility of that already under culture, 
the other by diminishing the expence of cultivation, and 
by inereasing the produce without, in the same degree, 
increasing the expence attending it. With regard to 
the first point, he believed that the productiveness of 
9-10ths of this island might be greatly increased. 
Every one would acknowledge that lands naturally 
of similar 
Now he had lands, natu- 
rally the representative of large distriets of similar 
quality had, with profit, been made to yield immense 
produce. The late Mr. Aitcheson, of Dromore, had 
records of the produce of his farm since 1800, and 
those records exhibited an enormous produce compared 
with that yielded by lawwe districts of land of a similar 
quality. Well! these districts may be compared with 
the estate of Dromore, and it may be safely asserted, 
that if similar means be used all over them, similar re- 
sults will be obtained. These results were obtained 
from the use of artificial causes, from the proper appli- 
cation and use of larger quantities of manure. 
But the scientific man asserts, that even wn/ike sorts 
may be compared, and that the produce of naturally 
infertile soils may be increased. to a level with that of 
naturally fertile soils, by the artificial application of 
those substances to the natural presence or absence of 
which natural fertility or barrenness is attributable. 
He did not know of a limit to the productiveness to 
land. Mr. Vernon Harcourt had published a state- 
ment from which he draws the inference that he had 
reached the limit of high cultivation ; he found that one 
cause put in action produced a certain effect on the 
crop, and that another cause put in action happened 
to produce a similar effect: while the application of 
both the causes together was not followed by an in- 
creased effect. The experi were i ing con- 
tributions to our stock of information, but did nof 
justify the inference which had been drawn from them ; 
for, though the second eause had failed to add to the 
influence of the first, a third or a fourth might have 
succeeded, 
The means employed to increase the fertility of soils 
were of two kinds—those tending to their mechanical 
improvement, and to the improvement of their texture 5 
and those tending to their chemical improvement, to the 
imp’ t of their positi lants were com- 
posed of certain substances, some of which might be ob- 
tained wholly from the air, and others comprising those 
of which the ash consisted, which can be obtained only 
tfrom the soil. The lecturer then went on to explain 
the nature of the substances found in plants, which were 
diyisible into three classes—those found in the ash an 
termed inorganic substances, and two others compris- 
ing the organie portion, which will burn away in com- 
mon air, viz., the one represented by gluten, a stringy 
elastic substance found in Wheat flour, and the other 
represented by starch, sugar, &e. ‘The principle upo? 
which manuring depends must be to supply to the 
plant the substances which it requires as food, and Eu 
can only be done economically by those who know vt 
only what the plants want, but also what a given iue 
can afford them. And the lecturer stated his belie 
that we should see the day when the farmer, knowing 
the wants of his soil, would be able to write a uud 
tion for the manufacturing ehemist t0 make up, whic 
man who was removing the straw, killed him on the spot. . 
come to an exceedingly . 
